Best Christmas ever!!

Woke up to a Winter Wonderland this morning. It is beautiful, but, cold. Roads are closed. Christmas tree lights are on. There are presents under our tree now. It looks magical to me. The bread is drying in brown paper bags for my stuffing on the kitchen table. It smells like Christmas in my house now.

I make my stuffing the old fashioned way. I buy the cheapest white bread. I tear each slice into bite sized pieces into the brown sacks. I season the bread while drying. My husband & children will not eat anyone's stuffing but mine. My daughter in law will not allow anyone to make the stuffing but me. Patrick wanted to this year. Christine put a stop to all that nonsense.

As I was tearing my bread yesterday afternoon, the doorbell rang. Snowball, the little, younger dog has not learned that you do not eat Mama's bread for her stuffing. Why, it's criminal!! Just ask Bessie. Now, not only does my doorbell NOT ring very much, but, my dogs GO NUTS when it does. I'm off to the front door, going as fast as I can, as the dogs are racing me. There is a man standing there with a beautiful Christmas centerpiece. For us!!! Us!!! This poor deliveryman is trying to tell me it's a live centerpiece, it needs water everyday, he has watered it already. He looks nervous. I reassure him the dogs will not bite, they are just crazy. All the while, my dogs are acting like they are rabid. (Relax, they're not).

I am so excited, I take it to the kitchen table. Husband asks who it's from, I have him in my way as I'm trying to set it on the table. The phone rings, I set the plant down, run for the phone. Now, the older, bigger dog, Bessie? She goes crazy when the phone rings. I don't know why. So, I'm tripping over the dog, answer the phone. It's Patrick. I'm saying Hi, then I glance into the living room, and there he is. The little dog, Snowball. With a piece of bread in his mouth!! Bessie is sitting up, right next to the bread, looking at me as if to say, "Not me, he did it". I screamed, "SNOWBALL". That dog spit out the bread, looked at Bessie, Bessie looked at me as if to say, "kids".

And, Me? I laughed, again. Husband? He laughed, again. We laughed together, again. Oh, the joy of laughter in my home again.

God has put laughter in my house again. Even if it is for only a little while, it's laughter just the same. Kristen said yesterday, "This is the best Christmas, ever". Yes, my daughter, it is.